After living in this town 15 years, me and my wife decided to try Lenny's. My reasoning was the parking lot is always full, and that is normally an indicator the place is good. I called to ask if I could make a reservation, or call ahead expecting a wait. The hostess kind of chuckled, and I was like.."well the parking like is always full?". The hostess was like "Oh, that is from our banquet hall...you don't need a reservation". Now I start to get cold feet.
Well me and wife follow through, and go there. Despite the parking lot being full, there was maybe 3 tables of guests in the restaurant. I ordered the seafood trio, and my wife ordered some kind of fish. Both were nasty, and not really seasoned or prepared well. My wifes au gratin potatoes were not made in a way a recall that dish ever being prepared, and quite nasty. It really was like yesterday's left over baked potatos chopped up and backed with cheese. The side of rice I got was like petrified or something...hard like it had sat in a hot window for two days. When the waitress came back to see how our meal was..I just took the fork, and moved some of the rice..to show how nasty it was. She was like "Oh..I knew that didn't look right, let me get you some of the fresh stuff". Needless to say, we will not be back. Be it Petruzzi's, DB McMillions, or now Lenny's, I have never gotten a decent meal at any of that family's restaurants. The only thing that brings me a brief moment of joy is seeing the old Perkins fixtures they reuse..because I actually liked Perkins.
As for the "Olive Garden", prepackage restaurant stuff...the reason people eat at those restaurants, is because they have something called standards. In a well run chain, dishes have very specific receipies, and supposed to be prepared the same, at any store in any state. Because the receipes are in so many restaurants, they actually make sure they taste good. I know I can always get good lasagne at an Olive Garden. There are some great mom and pop restaurants, but more often than not, they are also the biggest dives. The reason being that most only have standards set by the owners, who often do not have a clue how to run a restraurant right. Lenny's biggest problem in my take was simply the food is not good. It was not seasoned like whoever made it had a clue on taste, and for the price, was not appetizing. The rice thing also told me they do not have high standards. If the owner does the cooking, or makes the menu there, he needs to find a new chef..that simple.
And I do not just eat at Applebees. Me any my wife eat out a lot locally at the seafood houses, and places like Cafe Des Artists and so forth. When we are out of town, we have no trouble dropping $100-$200 on a nice dinner at a nice restaurant. I have tasted good chef made food..and I can tell you..if you like Lenny's..either you have bad taste, or you are getting special food the regulars do not.